When it snows, it pours

The message left behind on the old Dairy Queen marquee — surrounded more than adequately by growing piles of fallen and plowed snow — has become an appropriate one, as Tracy has been hit by multiple blizzards in February alone.

Piles of snow around town are seemingly getting larger and more noticeable by the week, making it increasingly difficult to find room for it all

By Per Peterson

Does the “Rain, Rain Go Away” mantra count for snow, too?

City employees and Tracy residents alike were still moving snow from the previous storm when another wave of wind and snow blew through the area early Thursday afternoon. Although it didn’t snow for long, the new snow put a white blanket over huge, man-made snow piles that have become commonplace around town.

“Our snow field is getting full,” Tracy City Administrator Kris Ambuehl said last Thursday. “They’ve been piling it up.”

That primary snow field is in the open space across from the Brockway-Brown Veterinarian Clinic. Ambuehl said the city, if needed, could haul snow to the compost site just outside of town. He added that the public works department’s number one priority during the winter season is moving snow, and credits the crew for all the work they’ve been doing.

“We’re not doing construction, we’re not trimming trees, we’re not mowing parks — snow removal is it,” he said. “Those guys, they’re awesome. They come in at two o’clock in the morning to start plowing snow so everything is ready by seven o’clock for everybody — sometimes two, three days a week. Then they’re expected to be there the next day, working, because there’s all the clean-up and maintenance.”